CAMP S.K. PENDATUN, April 29 -- Government forces and members of the Municipal Inter-Agency Committee Against Trafficking (MIACAT) rescued 14 potential victims of human trafficking in Bongao port in Tawi-Tawi province over the weekend, officials said Monday.

Brig. Gen. Prexy Tanggawohn, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR), said the police and other law enforcement units conducted the rescue mission after receiving a tip about a group of individuals traveling to Sabah, Malaysia, via the so-called "southern backdoor" aboard M/V Ever Queen of Asia from Zamboanga City.

"They failed to present legal documents about their travel to Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan in Malaysia," Tanggawohn said, adding that the...